Cupcake Shows. . . I LOVE that term, and had never heard it before, but it fits so perfectly, although I had heard about a show called something like: "Cupcake Wars", or something like that. Contestants try to outdo each other, making the best cupcakes. I don't care much for Barefoot Contessa, or Pioneer Woman, but Paula just sends shivers up my spine. I don't know what it is about her. I love her hair and her eyes. She is just so 'secksy', (to 'this old man'). But she makes me want to puke with her CONSTANT "ya'lls". I mean 'every other word'!!!! Does anyone think that maybe she is told to do that? Anywhooo, if I had a portrait of Paula Dean, it would be up on my bedroom wall, (pant, pant). Forgive me for getting off topic. And now . . . back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Just discovered this topic, but weighing in anyway. I am in New England, so I don't have experience with the log firm you are considering. I did recently move into a log home and can give you some insight on the homes in general. The log home company I went with insisted that I use a GC that had past experience building log homes. I also talked to home owners that had gone through that company, and saw their homes, got their feedback. The company also had a yearly date when they made a small structure (garage) on their property to show how the homes are constructed. Very informative. When my house was being built, they sent one of their experts to assist in the laying of the log shell, to make sure that no corners were cut. (I am glad they did.) As far as Summit Studio's feedback: In my home, each log is connected with a layer of insulation. My home here in the hills of western Massachusetts is more tightly insulated than my old stick built home down in Connecticut - this is noticeable in the winter! Up here, I'm on the side of a hill with little in the way of trees to serve as a wind buffer -- it's a LOT cozier here than back down at the old place, where the winds never amounted to much. When the house shell was constructed, there was space along the floor allotted for electrical conduits and outlets. Light switches on outer walls didn't prove to be a problem, either - planned for at sensible locations by entry doors. As for plumbing, all my plumbing is on interior walls or sections of the house, with the exception of my prep sink... those hoses and drain pipe go down to the basement just before the back of that cabinet (which is how it's done in just about any house that has a basement). In winter country I really don't want plumbing on outer walls anyway. Yes, a log home will settle more than a conventional stick built home. When building, they take this into account (a reason why my log company insisted on my hiring a GC with past log home experience). I've had a few minor drywall breaks, but minor, and I knew to expect them. (I did have a few troubles with the GC I chose, but those had nothing to do with this being a log home.) Pricing notes: This worked out to be less expensive than my original stick built plans even though the ultimate house was the same square footage and more or less the same footprint (different design). I knew in my rural area dropping a half million on a home was just plain stupid. The log company charged me for the log shell, and included the roof, front porch, and exterior doors - but not the staining or floors. The GC charged twice that to do the foundation, the walk out basement, all the interior including carpentry for cabinets, the back deck (it wasn't an option on the log company plans), and the septic. (I'm not including the well or the landscaping in this.) I was able to do custom higher end things where it mattered to me, and scale back on the trivial stuff. Excluding that landscaping and well, this worked out to just about 10 percent above the GC's quote. I was able to modify the plans I chose from the log company. I discovered GW (now owned by Houzz) about the time I was working on the kitchen design, and I'm grateful for their assistance! Although the logs were being milled at that point (no changes on exterior), I was also able to get a couple other pointers placed towards my benefit inside.

Jello. Only eat it now on that day before one of those procedures we must get every 5 or 10 years. Packaged pizza mix. It was all we had in the mid 60’s small town, and we teenagers thought it was so cool to make and press out dough on an pan and have pizza at a sleep-over. iceberg lettuce. I’m sure I have had it as an adult, but I try to avoid it. Thankfully my mother was a wonderful cook, my dad hated casseroles and lunch meat, so we avoided a lot of really bad stuff. He did eat sardines and saltines once in a while, and he had the kitchen totally to himself when he ate them. Canned LeSeur baby peas. One of the only canned foods my mother did buy other than tomato paste or sauce. I still like them on occasion. Loved them with her homemade mashed potatoes with butter. I would mix them together on my plate.

I wrote "sprinkle" to differentiate from "dumping" lol. I just meant that I would take shovelfuls and kind of wave the shovel back and forth over an area of a bed - think of a spoonful of grated cheese being "sprinkled" over a bowl of spaghetti lol. I didn't want to put it on too heavy. I rarely purchase stuff for the garden either. I have about 40 oaks, so I have plenty of leaves for mulch, I do compost, although that probably doesn't give me enough. Occasionally I will buy bagged compost. For years I had a source of wonderful compost at a local llama farm but I no longer go there. I used to give up on shredding my leaves after some time too lol, when I raked by hand and shredded using a leaf shredder. It took forever. Once I shredded what I needed for my garden and my customer's gardens I stopped shredding (that took long enough, trust me!) Then my husband lost his job and when HE had to do the yardwork (raking, shoveling) snowblowers and lawn tractors suddenly appeared at our house lol. So he can shred leaves in a fraction of the time it took me, so that is infinitely helpful! I actually decided to wait on digging out the rest of that lovely organic material until AFTER our yard clean-up. No sense in putting it all down and then raking out the beds! I rake out the beds very carefully, trying to get the whole leaves that have fallen on top of the shredded mulch, but of course you still lose some, so I didn't want to be raking out all this nice new compost. Once the yard clean-up is done, by the end of December lol (thanks, oak trees) I'll put down the rest of this wood compost, and top off with more shredded leaves. :) Dee